System and method for measuring and reporting changes in walking speed

• US 20060058704A1
• Filed: 09/10/2004
• Published: 03/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Ganesh, Meena, Cuddihy, Paul Edward, Graichen, Catherine Mary, Weisenberg, Jenny Marie
• Granted Patent: US 7,535,368 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/595
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/08 Elderly
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1113 Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6887 mounted on external non-worn devices, e.g. non-medical devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 11/00 Measuring average value of speed by determining time taken to traverse a fixed distance G01P3/64, G01P5/18
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 3/50 for measuring linear speed G01P3/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0423 detecting deviation from an expected pattern of behaviour or schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0469 Presence detectors to detect unsafe condition, e.g. infrared sensor, microphone G08B21/0476 takes precedence

Abstract

A system and method for identifying a change in walking speed of a person is provided. The system comprises a plurality of sensors disposed in various rooms of a structure. The sensors are operable to provide a signal representative of motion and/or the location of the person within the structure. The system may also include a processor-based system that may receive signals representative of the motion and/or location of the person from the sensors. The processor-based system may establish a travel time for a path traveled by the person through the structure based on the signals representative of the motion and/or location of the person and may store the travel time within the processor-based system. The processor-based system may identify at least one path traveled by the person through the structure from among various travel paths traveled by the person through the structure as having a consistent travel time over a period of time. The processor-based system also identifies a change in the person'"'"'s walking speed by identifying changes in the travel time for the at least one path traveled by the person through the structure. The system may alert the person or a caregiver to inform them of the change in walking speed identified by the system.

Claims

1. A system for identifying a change in walking speed of a person, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensors disposed among a plurality of different rooms of a structure, wherein each of the plurality of sensors is operable to detect one of motion of the person or location of the person and to provide a signal representative of one of the motion of the person or the location of the person; and

a processor-based system operable to receive a signal representative of the motion of the person and a signal representative of the location of the person from the plurality of sensors,

wherein the processor-based system is operable to establish a travel time for a path traveled by the person through the structure based on the signals representative of the motion of the person and the location of the person from the plurality of sensors and to store the travel time within the processor-based system,

wherein the processor-based system is operable to identify at least one path traveled by the person through the structure from among a plurality of travel paths traveled by the person through the structure as having generally consistent travel times over a period of time, and

wherein the processor-based system is operable to identify a change in the person'"'"'s walking speed by identifying changes in the travel time for the at least one path traveled by the person through the structure.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors comprises a motion sensor.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors comprises a door switch.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors comprises a location sensor operable to detect when the person is located at a specific location within the structure.

5. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the processor-based system is operable to establish a reference travel time for transiting the at least one path based on the travel times stored in the processor-based system.

6. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein the processor-based system is operable to compare at least one current travel time with the reference travel time to determine if travel times are changing over time.

7. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein the processor-based system is configured to send an alert to a caregiver when the processor-based system determines that the travel times are changing over time.

8. A method of operating a monitoring system to identify a change in walking speed of a person, comprising:

receiving data representative of movement of the person within a structure and the time that the movement occurred;

processing the data to establish a representative travel time for the person to walk along a specific sequence of sensors from among a plurality of different sequences of sensors; and

periodically comparing a current travel time for the person to walk along the specific sequence of sensors to the representative travel time to identify a change in the travel time for the person to walk along the specific sequence of sensors.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein receiving data representative of movement of the person comprises receiving data from a plurality of motion sensors operable to detect movement of the person in a location within the structure.

10. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein receiving data representative of movement of the person comprises receiving data from at least one occupancy sensor operable to detect when the person is positioned on the at least one occupancy sensor within the structure.

11. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein receiving data representative of movement of the person comprises receiving a signal representative of one of a door being open or closed.

12. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein processing the data comprises establishing travel times for the person to walk along the plurality of sequences of sensors and identifying those specific sequences of sensors of the plurality of sequences of sensors having generally consistent travel times and wherein the representative travel time comprises a representative travel time for one of the specific sequences of sensors having generally consistent travel times.

13. The method as recited in claim 8, comprising contacting a caregiver when a changing trend in the travel time between the sequences of sensors is identified.

14. A method of operating a monitoring system to identify a change in walking speed of a person, comprising:

receiving a signal representative of movement of the person from each of a plurality of sensors disposed within a building;

establishing travel times for walks that the person takes between rooms of the building based on the signals representative of movement of the person received from the plurality of sensors disposed within the building;

identifying at least one path through a first plurality of rooms in the building that produces consistent travel times from among a plurality of paths through a plurality of rooms in the building; and

storing a representative travel time of a walk along the path through the first plurality of rooms as a reference for comparison over time.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein receiving a signal representative of movement of the person comprises receiving a signal representative of location of the person within the building.

16. The method as recited in claim 14, comprising periodically comparing a current travel time for a walk along the path through the first plurality of rooms with the representative travel time.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, comprising notifying a caregiver if the current travel times are changing over time.

18. A program, comprising:

programming instructions stored in a tangible medium, wherein the programming instructions enable a processor-based device to establish travel times for a person walking between rooms of a building based on data received from a plurality of sensors in the building and the programming instructions enable the processor-based device to identify a specific sequence of rooms that are walked through by the person as producing the consistent travel times.

19. The program as recited in claim 18, wherein the programming instructions enable the processor-based device to establish a representative travel time for the specific sequence of rooms that are walked through by the person as producing consistent travel times.

20. The program as recited in claim 19, wherein the programming instructions enable the processor-based device to compare travel times with the representative travel time to identify a trend towards a change in the travel times.

21. A system for identifying a change in a person'"'"'s walking speed, comprising:

a monitoring system in communication with a plurality of sensors operable to detect a person within a structure, wherein the monitoring system is operable to establish a travel time for each trip between the plurality of sensors and to store the travel times in memory to enable the system develop a reference travel time for the trip between the plurality of sensors.

22. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors comprises a motion sensor operable to detect motion of the person within the structure.

23. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors comprises a location sensor operable to detect location of the person within the structure.

24. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein the monitoring system is operable to compare a current travel time to the reference travel time.

25. The system as recited in claim 24, wherein the monitoring system notifies an operator when a consistent change in the travel time is identified by the monitoring system.

26. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein the monitoring system uses a statistical method to establish the reference travel time from a plurality of travel times stored in memory over time.